SAN FRANCISCO—Faced with the potential for an additional $600 million shortfall to the courthouse construction budget, the Court Facilities Working Group will meet Thursday, Dec 13, (agenda) to draft recommendations designating which of 23 courthouse projects should be indefinitely delayed.

Additional projects may need to be delayed because of an unexpected added burden on the judicial branch construction funds: the first payment for the Long Beach courthouse, scheduled to open in fall 2013. The judicial branch undertook the much-needed Long Beach project through legislation passed in 2007, authorizing a unique “performance-based infrastructure” project, with annual payments to start when the building is occupied by the court. The payments were to be appropriated from the state’s General Fund. However, with the state still facing a deficit, the burden of funding the construction, operation, and maintenance of this facility may shift to the account that funds SB 1407 projects. This change means that the judicial branch cannot proceed with upwards of $600 million in planned projects until the appropriation for Long Beach is resolved.

The draft recommendations will be posted for public comment following the meeting, and later presented to the Judicial Council for final action.

The meeting will be held from 9:00 A.M. to 12 P.M. in the Judicial Council Boardroom, located at 455 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102-3688. The meeting is open to the public, however, there will be no time allocated for public comment. An agenda will be posted to the Court Facilities Working Group’s page on the California Courts website.